The College of New Jersey Athletics

Amherst, MA...The College of New Jersey kicked off the first round of the 2009 NCAA Men’s Tennis Championship Tournament with a 5-0 win over St. Joseph's College on Friday. The opening three rounds of the tournament are being held at Amherst College.

TCNJ cruised to a sweep in doubles play, losing just a single game in the number three match-up. The Lions pairs of Jeremy Eckardt with Stewart Fernandez and Jonathan Yu with Steve Fernandez each picked up 8-0 wins over their Golden Eagles opponents.

In singles action, TCNJ closed out the victory with wins at number five and six. Dan Lee topped Justin Russo 6-0, 6-0 at number six, while Bill Carrig outsted Nick Donadio 6-1, 6-0 at number five. With the decision sealed, the other four singles matches were called off the court as TCNJ led all remaining contests.

With the result, St. Joseph’s season comes to an end with a record of 13-4, while TCNJ improves to 11-2. The Lions advance to tomorrow’s NCAA Second Round, and will face off against Johns Hopkins at 10 a.m.

Doubles
1) Eckardt/Stewart Fernandez (T) def. Celentano/Houghtaling (SJ) 8-0
2) Yu/Steve Fernandez (T) def. Barnett/Funk (SJ) 8-0
3) Carrig/Lee (T) def. Danadio/Russo (SJ) 8-1
Singles
1) Jeremy Eckardt (T) leading Daniel Celentano (SJ) 6-1, 1-1 unfinished
2) Stewart Fernandez (T) leading Keith Houghtaling (SJ) 6-1, 4-0 unfinished
3) Jonathan Yu (T) leading John Funk (SJ) 5-2 unfinished
4) Steve Fernandez (T) leading Kyle Barnett (SJ) 6-1, 5-2 unfinished
5) Bill Carrig (T) def. Nick Donadio (SJ) 6-1, 6-0
6) Dan Lee (T) def. Justin Russo (SJ) 6-0, 6-0